# 5552
While it is difficult to find anything good to say about bedbugs, scientists – at least up till now - have been unable to establish that these elusive, vexing, and voracious insects are able to transmit diseases to humans.
Almost eradicated in the developed world by the mid-1940s, these hematophagous (bloodsucking) critters have made a well publicized comeback over the last decade.
Like bacteria, viruses, and fungi . . . insects can also become resistant to the chemicals we use to control them. Last year you may recall, in From the `Nature Bats Last’ Dept I even wrote about growing resistance to the insect repellant DEET among some Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
The old adage is true.
If you build a better mousetrap, nature will begin work on constructing a better mouse.
Over the past 50 years bedbugs have demonstrated an increasing resistance to a wide array of insecticides, including DDT, pyrethroids, and organophosphates. Additionally, some of the chemicals that were effective in their control have been withdrawn from the market due to environmental and human health exposure concerns.
And so the bane of our great-grandparent’s existence, and the subject of that familiar off-to-bed rhyme for children, has made a comeback. And with that comes renewed worries over whether their bite can transmit diseases.
Which bring us to a letter that was published yesterday (epublished ahead of print) in the CDC’s EID Journal that doesn’t definitively answer that question, but it does ratchet up the anxiety levels a bit.
Lowe CF, Romney MG. Bedbugs as vectors for drug-resistant bacteria [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis. 2011 Jun; [Epub ahead of print]
At this point, rather than re-inventing the wheel, I’ll step aside and direct you to Flublogia’s resident expert in all things antimicrobial resistant; Maryn McKenna.
Follow the link below to read her take on all of this, which she published yesterday on her Superbug Blog.
Drug-resistant bacteria in bedbugs
- By Maryn McKenna May 11, 2011 |
Bedbugs have been shown to be able to carry a variety of human pathogens, but proof that they can transmit them on to people is lacking. The authors of this letter write, however, that bedbugs offer a plausible route of infection.
Bedbug carriage of MRSA, and the portal of entry provided through feeding, suggests a plausible potential mechanism for passive transmission of bacteria during a blood meal.
Because of the insect’s ability to compromise the skin integrity of its host, and the propensity for S. aureus to invade damaged skin, bedbugs may serve to amplify MRSA infections in impoverished urban communities.
All of this is terribly preliminary, of course. More research will be needed.
Something I’m just itching to find out about. And soon.
